


Returned

by Cherry_Sofa_729



Series: Unfortunate Circumstances [3]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Being Lost, Deceit | Janus Sanders is a Mess, Fluff, Gen, Kid Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Kid Fic, Kid Logic | Logan Sanders, Lost - Freeform, Parent Deceit | Janus Sanders, Parent Morality | Patton Sanders, Parent-Child Relationship, Picnics, Single Parents, Walks In The Woods, virgil and roman are mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 02:22:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28574454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cherry_Sofa_729/pseuds/Cherry_Sofa_729
Summary: Logan isn’t where he’s supposed to be, and has some help from the snake man to go back home.
Series: Unfortunate Circumstances [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2050605
Comments: 8
Kudos: 96





	Returned

**Author's Note:**

> I loved Writing little Logan with my Whole Soul.

Logan was probably lost.

Well, he could probably find his way back to the small grassy clearing where Papa and Roman had their picnic, but he would also probably not be able to do that. 

He was learning about chances with Thomas in school. Like the chance it would rain. The chance it would be sunny. The chance he would get back home. The chance he would stay lost forever. 

Also, it was getting dark. And cold. He shivered and pulled his blue hoodie over his arms, zipping it all the way up. The vines grew thicker as the trees grew taller, and the ground became squishy underfoot. Logan shivered as he looked up, wondering when the trees had gotten so tall he couldn’t see the setting sun in any direction. 

That wasn’t good. He couldn’t tell north and south without the sun, and he had just spun himself in a circle!

_Snap. Crackle._ There was a noise from the bushes. 

Oh, it could be anything. A rabbit, maybe. Or a squirrel, both equally likely in this wooded habitat. 

Or it could be a bear. Or a wolf. Or a coyote.

Logan wasn’t going to say it, but he was a tiny, little, itty bitty bit, scared. He just wanted to see if he could find some berries deeper in the woods! He didn’t want to meet a bear! Or a wolf! Or a coyote!

Lucky for him, it was none of those things. 

—————

It was a side, though a very dirty one. He had wild brown hair, a freckled nose, and was missing a front tooth. Logan adjusted his glasses, and unzipped the top part of his hoodie just enough to reach inside the front pocket of his overalls and grab his notebook. 

He would need detailed notes on this new side. 

He had never met someone new before! All he had known was Patton and Roman. And Thomas, of course. 

“Hello! My name is Remus!” The side from the bush said. Logan wrote _‘Remus’_ at the top of a new page. 

“I’m Logan.” He said, pushing up his glasses again. 

He wrote quickly.  _ Dirty. Smells like the school bathroom. Is missing front tooth. Has a grey streak in his hair. Is wearing a pair of old gym shorts and a too-big green T-shirt tied with a rubber band.  _

“What are you doing here?” Remus asked, sniffing around Logan like a dog. He even walked on all fours. “This is our house!”

“No it’s not.” Logan said astutely. “There’s no house around here.” This side wasn’t very bright, if he couldn’t even tell that they were in the middle of the woods. 

Remus cocked his head, appearing to think hard about something. He smiled wide as he appeared to reach a conclusion. “Mama will know what to do with you. Cmon!”

Before Logan could ask who mama was, he was being pulled as fast as possible by a filthy six year old. The forest only got darker and deeper as they ran down the path, before opening up onto a clearing. 

And in that clearing, was a small, rickety house, a chicken coop, and a thriving garden. 

Logan could hardly take notes fast enough as Remus told him to stay, and ran up to the front door. 

Logan did not stay. He had more notes to take. 

He wandered over to the wire-fenced chicken coop that seemed to house 7 hens and one rooster. He counted twice to make sure. 

The garden had 5 bean plants, 5 cucumber plants, 5 tomato plants, and 15 other plants that Logan didn’t know because their food was underground. He wrote  potatoes?  in his notes and underlined it thrice. 

Suddenly, he felt a figure looming above him. 

“Hello there little one. What brings you to my garden?”

Logan didn’t look up from his notes. “I’m studying it.” This must be the mama Remus had mentioned. Much like his own Papa, this was Remus’ parent. 

“Well, Remus told me he found you quite a ways from the border. So get.” Something bristled hit Logan on the back. “Get. Shoo.” 

He turned. He was being nudged with a broom.Rather rude, he decided, cuz he wasn’t a stray cat or wild field mouse. 

His eyes trailed up the shaft. The man wielding said broom was short, thin, and lanky. He wore a knitted yellow sweater, the sleeves stretched out from time, and faded blue jeans with ratty cuffs and worn knees. Over that, he wore a greasy and stained white apron with a front pocket. With the setting sun behind him, his face was impossible to make out. 

“Shoo.” He repeated, smacking Logan with the broom once more. 

“Shoo where?” He asked, standing up and brushing off his knees, before tucking the notebook back into his overall pocket. 

“Don’t play dumb. Go back home. I’m not interested in another mouth to feed.”

Another mouth to feed? Logan cocked his head to the side. “I don’t know how to get home. I was lost before Remus found me.

The man sighed. “Okay. Fine! Where’d you get lost from?”

“We were having a picnic in strawberry fields.”

The man sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Of COURSE you were. Okay. Guess I’m doing this. REMUS!” He yelled, turning to the boy near the front door, whose arms were now filled with a small bundle wrapped in a blanket. “Watch your brother while I take Logan home!”

Logan guessed the bundle was a baby. “You shouldn’t leave a child and a baby alone.” Logan started, but the man shushed him. Did anyone teach these people manners? 

“They can handle it. Ok kid, my name is Janus, and I’m gonna take you back to your folks. C’mon.” He said, grabbing Logan’s hand with his gloved one. 

“Okay.” Logan didn’t mind the texture of his gloves, really. But he was curious about this man, and how he was going get him back. “How long is it going to take? How do you know how to get there?” 

“A while, and I just do.” He took off the apron and left it there in the garden under a rock so it wouldn’t blow away. He grabbed Logan’s hand again and tried to pull him along. 

Logan finally got a good look at his face as he bent down. 

Logan stopped dead in his tracks, and his face broke out into a massive grin. “WOAH YOU HAVE SCALES!”

“You just noticed that?”

He clapped his hands wildly and reached out, nearly grabbing and touching Janus’ scales. He stopped right before he made contact, only out of politeness. “Can I touch them? How long have you had them? What do they feel like? How do you keep them clean? Snakes shed their skin, do you do that-“

“I’m gonna stop you right there.” Janus pushed the small child back, before counting his questions off on his fingers. “Uh, no, several years, like scales, with soap, and I’m not gonna answer the last one. And we need to start moving.”

Janus planted his hands squarely on Logan’s back and pushed. He was moving forward, reluctantly, as his feet were being dragged in the mud. He refused to stop talking long enough to focus on walking. 

“Kid,  _ move. _ Don’t you want to get home before dark?” 

“Can’t I stay with you? I have many questions to ask you!”

“Nope! Certainly not, child. Now  come on. ”

Logan huffed but started walking. He kept his head down and scribbled notes on the strange snake-man the whole time.

Why had he never seen him before? Why did he not know about him? He was a side, clearly, and Remus and the baby were sides too. So why hadn’t Logan known that they lived here?

Maybe this had something to do with The Split that Papa always didn’t want to talk about. 

He was walking too slow. Janus grabbed his hand and tugged him along so he’d keep pace. 

The forest quickly grew dark and spooky again. Strange mushrooms and plants grew along the path they were following, some with bright flowers or slick, glossy leaves. 

“Stay on the path, okay?”

Logan wanted to do anything  _ but  _ that. There were dragonflies, butterflies and fireflies that swarmed around his head. Thick, squishy moss that seemed to glow. Fat caterpillars with thorny backs. Gnarled, ancient trees that seemed to  _ beg  _ to be climbed. 

So, it took about 30 seconds before he wandered off. 

Janus noticed the absence of tiny footsteps behind him. He turned to see Logan leaving the path and heading deeper into the woods!“WOAH!” He yelled, running over to Logan and pulling him back. “Don’t touch that!” The mushroom he was leaning over was deadly poisonous, and he really didn’t want to show up to Patton’s picnic with a corpse. 

“Sorry Mr. Janus.” Logan said, as the two went back to the path. 

“It’s okay kid, just- don’t run off like that! Stick to the path!”

Logan huffed. There was just so many cool things to take notes on  _ off  _ the path!

He followed Janus for about five more minutes at a brisk pace before he just HAD to go look at that neat little bug. 

He was quickly brought back. 

This happened 6 more times before Janus had enough. He scooped Logan up around the waist, and carried him on his hip. 

Logan rather liked it up here. He could see everything, and Mr. Janus kept a tight grip around his bum so he wouldn’t fall, even at their fast pace. He couldn’t exactly take notes like this, but he had better access to asking Janus questions. 

And he had a lot of questions. 

“Are you venomous? Are you cold blooded? Why do you have scales and I don’t? Why is your jaw like that? Why is your left eye different from your right eye?”

Janus answered with polite yes or no, or most often an “I don’t know.” He was just focusing on getting this kid home in one piece, not helping him write a research paper. 

Suddenly, the questions abruptly stopped. He looked down at the kid on his hip to see him yawning and rubbing his eyes. 

Janus chuckled. “Sleepy?”

As expected, Logan got defensive immediately. “No!”

Janus gave him a look. 

He huffed and rubbed his eyes again, knocking his glasses askew. “Okay, maybe a little. But only cuz I’ve been playing all day!”

Janus chuckled and fluffed Logan’s hair, before plucking the glasses off his face and tucking them safely in his overalls pocket. “We’ll be back soon, sweetie. You can sleep in the meantime. I’m sure your papa has been worried sick about you.”

“Kay.” Logan leaned on Janus’ chest, shutting his eyes and letting the movement of walking rock him to sleep. 

Janus looked down Logan. His neat hair, clean face, chubby, rosy cheeks, oh how badly he wanted his kids this clean and happy.

He sighed. Oh, if only. Privilege isn’t equal. It wouldn’t be privilege if it was. 

He was coming to the end of the path at last. He could dump this kid back to where he belonged, and skulk back into the mud and filth and the trying-to-survive.

“Logan!” A call came from shortly up above. “Logan, where did you go?!”

Janus sighed. He’d know that cheery voice anywhere. 

He quickened to a jog and emerged from the forest with a sly smile. 

Patton was frantically calling out for Logan, wearing a simple blue sundress with a red and blue Hawaiian shirt open overtop. Janus sighed, braced himself, and spoke. 

“Over here, Patton.”

Patton turned to him and instantly ran over. “Logan! Oh, is he hurt?!”

“No, just sleeping. Little tike wandered far enough for Remus to find him.” Jansu explained, patting Logan’s head.

Patton’s brow furrowed, but he clearly chose to trust Deceit’s word. This time. 

He pulled Logan from Jan’s hands, slightly waking him. Logan just hummed at his change of position, before settling back into Patton’s arms and falling asleep, head settled on Patton’s shoulder. 

“He’s quite the wanderer.” Janus said softly, so to not wake the boy. 

“Yeah.” Patton bounced Logan gently in his arms. “Can’t say I love it. I’m sorry, by the way, he shouldn’t have been there, on your land.”

Janus shrugged. “Not a problem.”

This was how their conversations always went. Short, respectful, with not a hint of anything but professional dignity.

The silence quickly grew awkward. “Well, I’ll be off.” Janus said, turning away. 

“Yes, I will be going as well.” Patton said. But before Jan could walk away, he added “Thanks again, for finding Logan. And bringing him back. I thought-“ he hesitated and nervously stroked Logan’s back. “Well when I couldn’t find him, I thought you might’ve, maybe, s-stolen him.” He said with an awkward chuckle. 

Janus froze. Was Patton  serious?  “I’m not a child-snatching witch.” He snapped. 

“I know, I just… you know how parents worry.” 

Every muscle in his body seemed to tense, like a cornered animal ready to flee. He  hated  these little chats. Why, why was Patton so insistent on thinking he was dangerous? “Goodbye, Patton. Nice  _talk_. ” 

And with that, he was gone. 


End file.
